Chapter Thirty-One

Cirdan:

When Finn rushed into school to say Iris was missing, I was already feeling something was off with the bond, the principal calmed him down and contacted her parents who came to school as quickly as they could and then Finn took us and a considerable amount of guards to the last place she was seen.

For the next six hours, it was hell as I wondered where my mate was and what dangers has befallen her, and I had a right to wonder too. When the bond opened, I could feel her terrified, so scared that my hands shook, all efforts I made to try and calm her through our bond yielded no results and just like the last time when she was attacked by a feral wolf, I used the bond to trace her location. Finn was with me, and we both arrived at the deserted warehouse in the wild fae lands at the same time. He used some sort of spell of his, to get us through the walls after reassuring me that he had talked to the king and queen and their guards, about where we were.

We entered the warehouse just in time to see a man shove Iris head into his crotch. I reacted not thinking, flinging a disarming spell on the man and when Iris stumbled away from him even before I got close to her, I placed my jacket over her face, trying to protect her from seeing the mini battle the warehouse had turned to because the guards had arrived.

I watched as the guards killed the women who were already in Thrall of the kidnappers, shells of their former self, they were being done a favor and it was when the fight was not so intense that I noticed that Iris did not obey my order that she should lower her head, she was watching the guards kill the women with a dis pendent look on her face, like she was seeing the scene without seeing it.

I picked her up and she remained in my arms, not trying to get off or curl closer to me, like she was lost to this world. All I could do was beg the deities; I could not lose her. Not when I just found her, I just could not.

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“I blame you two for her state.” Her mother said calmly as we all waited outside her room for the doctor to come out.

“What?” King Elros stated, looking at the queen, who had tear tracks on her face, her hair a mess and red marks all over her hands from where she had pinched herself many times just to try and lessen her worry. In that moment, the queen looked more like a mother than she had ever looked before, I could see it in the king’s eyes.

“If she had learnt basic shielding and teleportation, she would have prevented what happened to her today, I am not saying that she should have fought but she had had just a small inkling on how to use her powers, she would have escaped and we all would not be here, fearing for her sanity.” The Queen yelled the last part before tears started coming out of her eyes and I watched as she pressed her palms to her mouth to cover the sounds of her sobbing.

“I just met my daughter; I cannot lose her.” She said and the king walked to her and wrapped his arms around the mother of his child, he also looked tortured, blaming himself maybe just as I was blaming myself that what happened to Iris was our fault.

We just did not want her to get into trouble with her powers, or rather I didn’t. Not until she was more familiarized and then I would have taught her ways to make her adjust better to Faery. We could have realized that she should know the basic thing anyway.

“So, I could have protected myself?” Iris soft voice said from her door, we all turned to see her sitting up on her bed while the doctor was at the doorpost with the door in her hand. She must have opened it just as the queen was talking.

The doctor bit her lips in a worried look on her face. “I should have said something, I am sorry.” She apologized but nobody paid her any mind because by the time she finished talking, we were already beside Iris bedside.

“How are you feeling sweetie?” Her father asked softly. I made a move to touch her, just to calm myself that my mate was alright, but she froze and shrank away from my touch. I knew the reason why but that did not stop me from being agitated by her actions.

“I am sorry Cirdan.” She said in the same soft voice she used earlier, it sounded so fragile and weak, things which Iris was not. It made me sad that she might be broken, and I hated that.

“I should be the one sorry, I should have insisted harder that I wanted to come with you.” I returned but she gave me a small smile before shifting on her bed, her request clear. Without any hesitation, I got in bed with her and when she shifted close to me once more, I tentatively laid my hand on her waist.

“It is not your fault.” She continued in that low voice. “It was not your fault of Finn’s. Where is he?”

I looked around to see that truly Finn was not around. I looked to the king and the queen whose face were angry. “Where is Finn?” I repeated.

“Somewhere else,” Iris mother replied, waving her hand like the question was beneath her.

“Somewhere he is giving answers to questions of why he left you alone.” King Elros added.

“He left me alone because I asked that he did.” Iris responded.

“But still, he knew better,” The king started arguing, Iris sat up once more this time from her leaning into my body and glared at her father.

“I didn’t,” she responded, her tone hardened. “I was the one who wanted us to leave and coaxed him into taking me with him because someone thought it was their god given right to make me a prisoner in this school.”

“It is my god given right to protect you, I am your father, the outside world is dangerous. And I will protect my child from it if I can.” Her father returned heatedly.

“And if you are not around to protect me like today?” Iris returned; her father flinched. “All my life, I have been kept away from this world, my rightful world, only to be thrust back in with no warning. Did you not think that protecting me would be to at least warn me of the dangers it contained before dropping me here and giving orders that I am not to leave the compounds? If you had at least done that, this would not have happened.”

“Iris… dearie…” Her mother started softly, her voice calm like her daughter was a rabid animal that needed to be soothed.

“And you.” Iris turned her heated gaze from her father to her mother. “All my life, I have been kept from your side of the family, I don’t know how light fae are and you could not even seem interested in teaching me even though I would not have accepted. The effort was not made. I went there because I was curious about my mother and the people she ruled. And I saw them slaughtered.”

Queen Nambra blanched at her daughter’s words, almost stumbling as if Iris had physically hit her.

“At least you were right about one thing. I would have prevented that if I did know how to use my powers. Besides what person in faery don’t h=know how to use their power. I am done not knowing. I will start learning as from tomorrow.”

“Okay Iris.” I soothed her. “We will start from the basics tomorrow, by the time we are done with school, you will know a lot of ways to protect yourself.”

She shook her head. “Not you Cirdan.” She answered. “Finn will teach me.”

I was not okay with that.